Conures As Pets

[Wings]

Yes...yet another thread of me considering another bird. I have been writing about macaws, cockatoos, and other birds and I am being quite unrealistic. I started reading the "funny conure stories" threads and I did some more research. I went upstairs and got some of my old conure books and read them. I forgot how great they were! They are more reasonable in terms of price, size and temperament. I have had a rb2 recommended to me and I really do like galahs, but I do not want the fatty tumors and dangerous health problems associated with them. I know it is preventable, but they aren't commonly available in my area, and when they are, they are sold in the next hour... A conure just seems much more realistic. I like the aratinga conures, namely the jenday and nanday conures. Another of my favourites is the patagonian conure. Would you guys recommend either of those birds to me? why or why not? nanday conures are loud, so are jendays and patagonians, but I do not mind...just wanted to throw that in there Thanks for your help!

orange?

 

[MikeyTN]

I'm not a conure fan because of the screams they do all the time....lol....I put up with two for 3 years and I would never do them again....They prefer my best friend so they stayed with him as I told him he can have them....

 

[Wings]

Which species? Probably just those two birds

 

[MikeyTN]

They were a Jenday and a Nanday, two out of three you listed...lol

 

[ruffledfeathers]

I am also an aratinga lover, so i am a bit biased. I had a sun who could be loud, no doubt, but under normal circumstances it was not a problem for me.
Nandays and patagonians are birds i also love, but when i first met a blue crown, something about them won me over.
In general my two conures were/are both very alert and intelligent, very comical, healthy, and very 'hands on' friendly (enjoy lots of kisses and hugs and scratches). Both tended to be more "my" birds (don't really prefer to go to others) but also not particularly upset when strangers approach and will warm up to people fairly quickly. My blue crown talks a little bit and tends to be a really 'chattery' guy where my sun was not at all chattery but she very obviously understood things i said to her and she liked imitating actions more than words (she 'brushed her teeth' and danced and played dead, etc.....)

 

[ruffledfeathers]

btw...my blue crown doesn't squawk. he will make a 'call' when i sing to him, as if he is singing along, but it is not screechy like the notorious sun conure scream (which i do admit is horrifying in timbre, LOL)

 

[MissyMe83]

Conures do have a screeching type of call that I find pretty annoying... that's all I got for ya lol.

 

[Wings]

I remember when i met this R E A L L Y cute baby sun conure. All his feathers where sticking up and his head was swaying back and forth happily calling (feathers weren't sickly fluffed, more like the comfy fluffed)

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I think conures are super cute, and incredibly loving, but I would never want one myself

 

[Wings]

why wouldn't you want one?

 

[Mayden]

I think conures are great birds - for deaf people

I think they're fantastic little guys but they (particularly sun conures and similar) are loud - and loud is generally okay - but they have a SCREECH.

So depending ony our tolerence for that, would then depend on whether I'd recommend a conure. I originally wanted a sun conure (before looking into senegals and meyers) but after spending time listening to them, I knew I'd be rehoming him before my door had even closed behind me!

Senegals and Meyers seemed the next logical choice, I looked into them in huge depth and decided that's what I wanted. Small, compact little birds with huge playful personalities and a screech that won't completely trash my hearing.

 

[Agapornis]

I love all conures, but knew that the Aratingas would be too loud for me. For me, the green cheek conure is the perfect bird! It has the personality of the bigger conures, but not the loud screech. YES, they are little birds, but their personality is HUGE! They are less expensive as well, and you don't need a giant cage that takes up 1/2 the room.

A year ago, I was where you are: wanting a bird, but not quite sure what kind to get. Now I have 2 of the best little GCCs in the world, and I couldnt be happier!

Good luck in your search!

 

[Wings]

Yeah i've decided a conure, pionus, or poicephalus would be best for me...maybe even a member of psittacula.. but i'm leaning towards conures or pois

 

[BoomBoom]

When my sun conure first screeched whilst perched on my shoulder, my very soul trembled. It was like the voice of God, in the highest pitch possible. For a month I questioned my capacity to live with and care for him, but here I am over a year later, still very much enamored with my little chicken. He is such a cuddly, funny little guy.

That said, consider Aratingas only if you are okay their noise and hyperactive personalities. They can be taught to not use their super screech as much but it's never extinguished. It's a part of them. A lot of patience is needed, but to me it is worth it. But if noise is even a consideration in your place, aras may not be for you.

I know you're not considering a sun, but Jendays have the same temperament.

 

[MissyMe83]

Yeah i've decided a conure, pionus, or poicephalus would be best for me...maybe even a member of psittacula.. but i'm leaning towards conures or pois

I say Pionus all the way!

 

[brianlinkles]

My daughter has a gcc, being around him has made me fall in love with them! In fact we now have three adorable yellow sided (high red) green cheek babies. They are soooo adorable and I am going to have a hard time parting with them! LOL Gcc's are not loud and they have a great personality. They truly do think they are a big bird. However I believe you live fairly close to me and I know that my breeder currently has my rb2's clutch mates (two girls) and one slightly older male available. I'm just throwing it out there in case it was still something you are interested in.

 

[Abigal7]

Yeah i've decided a conure, pionus, or poicephalus would be best for me...maybe even a member of psittacula.. but i'm leaning towards conures or pois

Well, if this will be your first parrot then these choices would not be that extreme. I like green cheek conures. Conures such as Jenday, Sun, Nanday conure, etc that a pitch most can not tolerate. I saw a old craigslist add that summoned it up well. It stated "I have a Jenday and Sun conure who are sweet tame birds. They are very loving! However, I work the night shift and I find I can not live with the noise they make (they can be loud!). I would like to rehome them with people that have conure or parrot experience."

 

[tweety]

I don't see why you always read about green cheek conures being loud I have 2 an they are not loud I have been around parrotkets that where louder then my conures I only have loud noises when my dogs are barking other then that I love them they are the best birds I have ever had . they will mimic other bird like the larger ones who are way too loud but mine sound like my tiny finches its very cute

 

[Mayden]

I don't see why you always read about green cheek conures being loud I have 2 an they are not loud I have been around parrotkets that where louder then my conures I only have loud noises when my dogs are barking other then that I love them they are the best birds I have ever had . they will mimic other bird like the larger ones who are way too loud but mine sound like my tiny finches its very cute

Because not ALL GCC's are like yours

Senegal's are classed as "quiet" birds. But mine (and MikeyTN's) are not in the slightest big quiet. They may be quiet in COMPARISON to some other birds. So the idea of telling people that GCC's are loud is to prepare them for their worse and generally the average case scenario. If you've got a quiet bird, good on you! If not, we don't want people getting a bird, expecting it to be on the quiet side when they're not. When I got Merlin, I expected him to be a quietish bird - nothing the neighbours would hear.

The neighbours hear him. I hear him down the street. & now whenever anyone asks about senegals I warn them about their noise because it can potentially be a huge trouble for some people and so I'll always warn people about the worse or average case scenario.

 

[tweety]

I agree that comment was not ment to be mean so let me clear that up but birds are just like any other animal you can not say like 1 type of dog are cat is better then the other it is just the animals personality I have cats who love birds they will lay with them when they fall out of a nest until I put them back they have never had kittens all animals are different no two are alike